Essay 259

MultiCultClassics Minutes proclaims, “Thou doth protest too much!”

• You better watch out. You better not cry. The neo-Nazis are coming to town. Toledo approved a return engagement for the group, despite the fact that the previous rally sparked a major riot. Property was vandalized and police arrested over 120 people during the incident last October. And it all happened after the neo-Nazis’ gathering was canceled before it began.

• Students at the University of Maryland staged a protest against campus police. The rally was sparked by a November 13 incident, where the cops broke up a mostly-Black party. Officers claimed they were responding to a noise complaint and ultimately arrested three people, including two U-Md. students. The partygoers insisted the cops waved nightsticks, brandished their pistols and blasted pepper spray. Chief Kenneth W. Krouse wrote a letter to the school paper, contending the police force has strived to “embrace the diversity that encompasses our campus community.” Perhaps he meant to write, “…MACE the diversity…”

• Seven students from Hampton University may be expelled for staging an anti-Bush protest last month. The students are accused of not following proper protest guidelines outlined in a school handbook. Wonder if the procedures incorporated dealing with pepper spray and riot police.

• The Murder Inc. trial is over, and the Lorenzo brothers were acquitted of all charges. Ja Rule originally called the case, “a war against hip hop.” Well, at least one war has ended without major protests, excluding the commentary by Ja Rule and Russell Simmons.